IMO, For best results, coat with wax, for me they seem to work better with packaged bees / swarm with out comb. In a hive with drawn comb, if they ignore them, I place un drawn / new frames in between those that are already drawn a couple at a time.

Plastic works very well, yes rolling on some wax helps the girls start. If you have honey in the mix it is supposed to be more effective. Never done it that way though. Second season with wax on plastic foundation is even better. Extraction is easier as there is s reduced risk of overspinning and collapsing the foundation. Black is the best colour for looking at brood as my eyes need glasses my wife reckons.When there is lots of bee food around the foundation builds up quickly. Good stuff when there is a heat wave as the melt down is only wax and nectar. Wax foundation has its advantages also as the bees draw more quickly.

I was told to spray a honey/water solution onto the frames.The bee's have built wax on 90 % of the frames but left a few bare patchs.I put some more honey on a few weeks back and will see how it went this week when I take some honey off.Got to clean out my frames,I got Jarrah blossaming close by and a heap of red bum about to flower as well :)

Thanks guys! i'm going to give it a shot! and they come pre-waxed thankfully

Nothing worse than Red Bum mate! :-DI took off some honey today and found some of my plastic frames have barely been touched after around a month in the hive.We got a paint brush and brushed on some of the hot cappings. I put the frames back in and I'll keep an eye on them to see how they go this time.

Howdy OzBuzz.where are you getting the PF prewaxed and how much for one versus quantity?

G'day Mardak,

I'm getting mine from Wirrakee Honey - I pay $1.28 for the foundation and $0.30 for them to wax them for me. I pay $1.10 for the frames for orders below 100 unassembled - above 100 frames they drop to $1.00... so if i'm ordering less than 100 unassembled frames with plastic foundation it will cost me $2.68 per frame - they do them fully assembled for $3.50

Nothing worse than Red Bum mate! :-DI took off some honey today and found some of my plastic frames have barely been touched after around a month in the hive.We got a paint brush and brushed on some of the hot cappings. I put the frames back in and I'll keep an eye on them to see how they go this time.

I could tell you a story about a guy (that would be me) who for some stupid reason decided it would be smart to go horse riding in shorts! blisters in places you don't want them!

I'm interested to see how this plastic foundation goes - i can see some benefits and some potential short comings. I just have to decide if the benefits outweigh the short comings. The idea of something solid that wont explode when spinning or melt completely if it gets too hot is appealing! as is the time factor of assembling plastic foundation frames versus wax foundation... time will tell

Done both wax and plastic foundation. Plastic is far easier due to waxing and then assembling the frames. I use an air staple gun. I use a paint roller to apply the wax and lay the foundation on a piece of laminex so I can scrape the excess wax off with a spatula and put back into the heater for reuse. The bees take more time to build cone but the extracting is just extracting. The speed of the extracting is not such an issue. Heat is not as a great factor in summer. Meltdowns simply means putting hive together again after I collect the sludge and let the bees do a clean up rather than new wax foundation. Burn my rego. number on the frames due to the dishonest pricks out there who attempt to steal ya stuff. Wish these dishonest bits of skat would get caught and flogged.

Here in Fl it's required that you have your reg numbers on the upper left corner of hives. I personally don't do this and have never had a problem with the inspectors over it but with all of the bee thefts that have been going around I plan to start.

A recent case was solved because one clever beek branded his no's on the frame bottoms where they weren't noticeable at first glance.

Scott

Logged

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Brand your Beek number ie "Z196" into foundation top bars, boxes, lids, bottoms. Reduces the thieving opportunities. Does not stop the morons who simply push over a hive(probably kids). I usually brand the year that I put equipment into the operation for curiosity sake and keeps a bit of an idea wjen you acquired it. Bit of fun over winter in the shed with the fire going.